How Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman became catch partners — and baseball's best bullpen duo (2024)

BOSTON — Thirteen months ago, Matt Strahm was in a complicated relationship. His partners had come and gone during the first five weeks of the 2023 season. He went from Connor Brogdon to Andrew Bellatti to Yunior Marte because the Phillies kept shuffling the bullpen mix.

Strahm did not have a devoted catch partner.

“I was bouncing around,” he said.

Then, last May, the Phillies added Jeff Hoffman to the roster. Strahm approached him on the first day. “Hey, we’re playing catch,” the lefty said. “This is how I play catch.” Hoffman did not know Strahm. But he liked how direct Strahm was. So, they started playing catch every afternoon in the outfield. It has evolved. The two relievers are often together in the clubhouse. They have emerged as late-inning forces on a dominant Phillies team that has a 10-game lead in the National League East.

Entering Wednesday, five relievers in Major League Baseball had pitched at least 25 innings with a sub-1.00 ERA. The Phillies have two of them. Strahm has a 0.67 ERA in 27 innings. Hoffman has a 0.93 ERA in 29 innings. Both of them are deserving NL All-Star candidates. They rank first and second in WAR for NL relievers.

They have done it together.

“It comes down to sticking to your routine, and it helps when you have someone that can keep you accountable to it,” Strahm said. “I mean, Jeffrey was a starting pitcher and is learning this bullpen thing. I just think our personalities match each other.”

Jeffrey?

“It’s almost like big brother, little brother,” Strahm said. He smiled. “We just feed off it.”

Strahm has not permitted an earned run in 27 consecutive games — the longest single-season streak for a Phillies reliever since 1912, when earned runs became an official stat.

“It seems like it’s just been this way for so long,” Hoffman said. “There’s no flinch. It’s just the same thing every time out.”

But, when Strahm looks at Hoffman, he sees something more incredible.

“What he’s doing … it took me nine years to do this,” Strahm said. “It took him a year and a half. I mean, hands down, what he’s doing is more impressive, in my opinion. It’s just impressive for him to ditch that starter mentality. This guy wants the ball every day. I’ve had to remind him it’s June. We don’t need a hero until October.”

Hoffman will be a free agent at the end of the season. Strahm was supposed to be one too until he negotiated a one-year extension through 2025 in spring training. Neither one is the Phillies’ closer, although Hoffman has had more chances in the ninth inning this season. He is one of six pitchers in the majors with at least five saves and five holds. Strahm’s 39 percent strikeout rate ranks second among qualified NL relievers. Hoffman’s 32 percent rate is 10th.

They have created a high standard. Phillies manager Rob Thomson trusts Hoffman and Strahm to enter with runners on base or pitch to the opposing lineup’s best hitters. Strahm had one of his most dominant relief outings of the season Tuesday at Fenway Park when he threw 12 pitches and Red Sox hitters whiffed at six of them. That fastball is sneaky.

“There’s good extension,” Thomson said. “There’s good spin rate. So there’s carry to it. They pick it up late. I mean, it plays like a 96 to 97 mph fastball.”

Both relievers were a revelation in 2023. Repeating it is even harder. Hoffman credited pitching coaches Caleb Cotham and Brian Kaplan. But he had applied changes before he came to the Phillies on a minor-league deal. They just helped him see the way.

Strahm included.

“Last year, we were onto something that I felt like could be my identity moving forward for the last however many years I play,” Hoffman said. “There were some outings last year that were speed bumps in the road. Those types of outings really pissed me off. I really wanted to either eliminate or minimize those the best I could coming into this year.”

What is his identity now?

“Hitters probably just assume that I’m coming at the zone, and I’m going to throw everything in the zone,” Hoffman said. “With the velocity and, hopefully, the slider’s got the sharpness — that makes for a really hard decision. I am a guy that’s going to force you to make a decision. And hopefully, by the time you can make that decision, it’s too late.”

A lot of it, Hoffman said, has been accomplished through minimal tinkering. He can sweat the smallest details for the first time in his career. He’s changed his sight lines to be in the strike zone more. He has revised his mentality for certain pitch locations.

The process begins every afternoon, hours before the Phillies need Hoffman or Strahm to pitch.

“I’ve always said us players are each other’s best pitching coaches just because we play catch with each other every day,” Strahm said. “Caleb might have two bullpens that day, so he doesn’t get to see us play catch. It’s good when you have the communication. Obviously, there’s no bitterness in our bullpen. So that’s what makes it easy.”

Pitchers — especially relievers — are serious about their catch partners. The Phillies have encouraged better habits in the afternoon because a game of catch with intent can translate to cleaner work later.

Hoffman and Strahm have elevated it.

“It’s an important thing for pitchers because we spend a lot of time with them,” Hoffman said of catch partners. “We trust them to give us their honest feedback every day. We hold ourselves to a pretty high standard in our catch play. That definitely can’t be overlooked.”

There is an understanding between them.

“I can tell Jeff something and he’s not going to get butthurt about it,” Strahm said. “Those are the kind of guys I work well with. You can tell me when I suck because if I’m sucking I know I suck. It’s the same thing with our catch. It’s little things.”

Earlier this season, Hoffman dealt with what he described as “weird skin stuff.” Strahm was aware. They played catch one day and Strahm noticed something.

“Hey,” he told Hoffman, “it looks like your elbow slot is way lower.”

Hoffman started to pay more attention to it.

“Honestly, that’s something that could save you from an injury,” Hoffman said. “You don’t feel that you’re compensating. But if you are, and you have a guy that you can trust who sees you throw every day, that’s a huge thing. Just be open and honest.”

The two relievers, 14 months apart in age, have become good friends. No one else in the clubhouse calls Hoffman, “Jeffrey.” That’s a bond reserved for catch partners.

“We have the same plan every day,” Hoffman said. “It goes all the way back to the catch play. Sometimes, we’re even on the training table at the same time. It’s always the same.”

It’s working.

(Top photos of Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)

Matt Gelb is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Philadelphia Phillies. He has covered the team since 2010 while at The Philadelphia Inquirer, including a yearlong pause from baseball as a reporter on the city desk. He is a graduate of Syracuse University and Central Bucks High School West.